Elimination Diet Ideas

Hi, so I've been paleo/primal on and off since February. Overall I've been pretty happy with how I have felt. I've had a few weeks here and there where I was not eating that well, but I definitely had some pretty sustained period of 90% or higher paleo.

Anyway, going paleo has not particularly helped my acne. My dermatologist has prescribed accutane. I'm a little by wary of going on this because of potential long term side effects.

Alternatively, I was thinking about doing a more strict version of paleo for a while (at least 30 days), i.e. really cutting out fruit, having no dairy at all, and maybe even cutting out eggs/nightshades.

Has anyone done an elimination diet to figure out what was really causing an issue (such as acne)? What did your diet look like?

How often do I have to tell people this : if you have acne, stay away from that horrible website. The only thing it's good for is causing eating disorders. Besides, the owner of the website is a douche IMHO.

I disagree with you Ambimorph. It's not like you in state x, take Accutane and then if you stop it, you will be again in state x. That would be cool thought, but there are some people on here with defected gut flora still searching for a cure. For instance I took broad spectrum antibiotics. They worked for a while but after I stopped my condition (not to mention my gut flora) got A LOT worse. So again check out this combination and then decide. I wish you luck.

I think he mentions it in one podcast at least. The dosage I'm taking is around 3.5g per day I think... Any time you are using fats/fat soluble supplements you need to allow anywhere from 1-3 months to see or feel a change. Many people see/feel them sooner but the time it takes to really replace fats in your body can be longer than the month you tried...

I think he mentions it in one podcast at least. The dosage I'm taking is around 3.5g per day I think... Any time you are using fats/fat soluble supplements you need to allow anywhere from 1-3 months to see or feel a change. Many people see/feel them sooner but the time it takes to really replace fats in your body can be longer than the month you tried... but this question wasn't about this topic- oops :)

Stay away from the accutane. It caused gallbladder issues for me, which now have a life-long affect on digestion. Which in turn causes some acne due to slowed digestion.
Though they may have become better with the dose and testing in the last 11 years since I took it.

If you "add to your neurosis" for one to two months out of your whole life and find out something about your health, I would say it was worth it. You can always go back to eating whatever if it didn't help.

Hm, is that the oil that Robb Wolf mentioned in one of his podcasts (http://robbwolf.com/2010/05/11/the-paleolithic-solution-episode-27/) ? If so, I tried it for a month but with no success despite taking a large dose (I think he recommends like itsy bitsy tiny one).

Yeah, it looks like it -.- I never knew that's what it was, but good to know. If that is what I have then it is the lesser of the degrees; the "alba". I'm not too worried about it, though. There's no cure and as long as I don't experience any more serious symptoms, I'm not going to bother. Thank you for the info :)

I used to have bumps on my cheeks when I was little. My cheeks, arms and legs. I don't know what it was from, but it cleared up on my cheeks by itself. I still have them on my arms and legs, they're just not as noticeable.

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Answers

I have been strict paleo for almost 3 months now, without cheating ever. I have had skin problems all my life (acne, greasy skin, dry skin, cracking and bleeding skin, and skin cancer even. NOTE: I'm 21). My acne has gone from a new breakout every week to now I have 1, maybe 2 pimples on my face at a time. Definitely eliminate the dairy. If you get rid of the dairy, grains and legumes, you should see it.

The reason you probably haven't noticed a change is because you have been intermittent with your diet. You won't see changes right away, pimples can form under the skin for weeks before actually appearing. You need to stick to your diet, eliminate dairy completely and stop switching back and forth. The changes back and forth in your diet are not helping; whenever your body goes through a diet change or any major change, it reacts negatively at first. You need to be consistent with the way you eat.

I used to have bumps on my cheeks when I was little. My cheeks, arms and legs. I don't know what it was from, but it cleared up on my cheeks by itself. I still have them on my arms and legs, they're just not as noticeable.

Agreed with the consistency issue. A REAL elimination diet needs to be pure for at least 2 weeks if not more like 4-8 weeks, then you reintroduce one item at a time and wait 3 days to see/feel any reaction thereafter.

This is one of my only "health" concerns personally at the moment as well and I don't eat a very high omega 6 diet but I started taking fish oil last week and noticed my skin got worse immediately. I have now been switched over to evening primrose oil for a few days and plan to continue this for a few months. It can take 1-3 months for fat-related deficiencies to clear up as opposed to micronutrient deficiencies or issues.

I think he mentions it in one podcast at least. The dosage I'm taking is around 3.5g per day I think... Any time you are using fats/fat soluble supplements you need to allow anywhere from 1-3 months to see or feel a change. Many people see/feel them sooner but the time it takes to really replace fats in your body can be longer than the month you tried... but this question wasn't about this topic- oops :)

I think he mentions it in one podcast at least. The dosage I'm taking is around 3.5g per day I think... Any time you are using fats/fat soluble supplements you need to allow anywhere from 1-3 months to see or feel a change. Many people see/feel them sooner but the time it takes to really replace fats in your body can be longer than the month you tried...

Hm, is that the oil that Robb Wolf mentioned in one of his podcasts (http://robbwolf.com/2010/05/11/the-paleolithic-solution-episode-27/) ? If so, I tried it for a month but with no success despite taking a large dose (I think he recommends like itsy bitsy tiny one).

eliminating all foods that are known to cause inflammation and hormone disregulation for at least two weeks

after at least two weeks, reintroduce each food once per a 48-hour period (ie. Eat the food on a monday and see if it causes acne by the morning of the Tuesday. Don't eat the food on the Tuesday. Repeat with a new food on Wednesday.)

keep a food journel and document your results

At the end of the elimination period, continue to avoid the foods that caused skin problems!

Someone might be sensitive to salicylates, goitrogens, oxalates, or who knows what. There are charts and good explanations at this website.

I've never had acne, but, I did find that my skin improved by leaving out store-bought cheese. I make mascarpone cheese and yoghurt from heavy cream and eat those sparingly. I started throwing out the egg whites and eating only the yolks and my skin texture improved.

I am very strict about no grains, legumes, seeds/seed oils. Also no prepared/packaged foods.

I think your idea about no fruits and no nightshades is worth a try, due to wanting to reduce inflammation.

The website about the failsafe diet explains what is in foods that cause problems and why.

How often do I have to tell people this : if you have acne, stay away from that horrible website. The only thing it's good for is causing eating disorders. Besides, the owner of the website is a douche IMHO.

The most likely candidate is the dairy. I don't see anything wrong with cutting it all out, and then adding things back in to confirm, but if you do end up cheating on something, make sure it isn't the dairy.

Yeah, it looks like it -.- I never knew that's what it was, but good to know. If that is what I have then it is the lesser of the degrees; the "alba". I'm not too worried about it, though. There's no cure and as long as I don't experience any more serious symptoms, I'm not going to bother. Thank you for the info :)

An elimination diet is definitely worth doing! I have an autoimmune disease and wanted to remove any potential allergens from my diet to give my immune system a rest, I saw an improvement pretty much straight away.

If you're looking for meal/recipe ideas, here's a few examples of what I ate...

I'm on an elimination diet. I picked it by playing around with foods I like in a nutrition tracker (like cronometer, or fitday) to see what I could eat that would still maintain good nutrition for a few months. For breakfast and dinner I eat grass-fed ground beef sauteed with leafy greens and topped with either sweet potato or winter squash. Sometimes I add sauerkraut, spirulina, or onions/garlic. For lunch I have salad greens and canned salmon with oil and vinegar dressing. When I feel the need for fruit (about once a week), I have an orange, apple, banana, or blueberries. I also drink homemade water kefir and tea. About once a week I make some bone broth, and I try to get organ meats when I can.

Check online, but there are a lot of people that have success with 10g a day, or 10g every other day. I personally took 20g 2 or 3 times a week max. That way you limit and control better the side effects. Start with a very low dose. It cleared my acne and I was planning on going for a maintenance of 20g per week, but the triggered IBS in me and I dropped. The side effects are quite serious and it has been show that small doses help a lot and you will be able to evaluate along the way. My IBS healed after dropping it, but imagine if I had gone with the recommended dosages!

I wish I could go back in time and undo the fact that I took accutane for what was, by any intelligent metric, insubstantial acne. Who knows what permanent side effects (in addition to my consistently dry skin) I have as a result. Whatever you do, don't take that stuff.

I would avoid the accutane. My ex gf took it, twice, and dreaded it. My roomate also took it, and constantly speaks of how much he regrets it. I do wish you the best with your acne, I had it decently bad (pre-paleo) but it has since gone away.

Definitely cut out the dairy. You might consider eliminating fruit as well, then once symptoms reside, add in slowly and see what you have a reaction too. I'm cutting out fruit at the moment and am already noticing a difference. I just read that fruit is like candy on a tree :)
Sad but true!

I had moderate acne (not even close to being severe) and I took Accutane for about 3-4 months roughly a year and a half ago.

My acne has completely disappeared and I'm not suffering from any long term side effects. I wasn't eating SAD at the time but it wasn't a fantastic diet either.

The only side effect for me was really dry skin. There are some supposed side effects of Accutane that get reported a lot like depression/suicide, joint pain, hair loss, etc. but that really wasn't my experience at all.

You have to weigh the risks/benefits yourself. Keep in mind that you'll only be on it for a relatively short period of time and you can stop taking it if there are side effects that you're not willing to cope with. On the other hand, the self-esteem/confidence boost is unreal: my quality of life skyrocketed after the acne dissipated. After the first two weeks or so, when the acne started subsiding, I can't describe how relieving it was to not have to constantly worry about my acne.

For me, the diet route is speculative at best and the added neurosis really isn't worth it. Of course, YMMV.

I disagree with you Ambimorph. It's not like you in state x, take Accutane and then if you stop it, you will be again in state x. That would be cool thought, but there are some people on here with defected gut flora still searching for a cure. For instance I took broad spectrum antibiotics. They worked for a while but after I stopped my condition (not to mention my gut flora) got A LOT worse. So again check out this combination and then decide. I wish you luck.

If you "add to your neurosis" for one to two months out of your whole life and find out something about your health, I would say it was worth it. You can always go back to eating whatever if it didn't help.